Revision notes for studying Kate Bush with summaries of each piece (Cloudbusting, And Dream of Sheep, Under Ice) in bullet pointed lists categorised into each musical element. I've included 2 examples of wider listening (Fast Car by Tracey Chapman and Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush) with their i...
A Level Music - Pearson Edexcel
Set Works
Component 3 – Section A
Appraising (Areas of Study)
Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
Context: Bush was the first female Brit to top the album charts with Wuthering Heights in
1978. Hounds of Love is Bush’s fifth album and the second album produced by Bush.
Wider Listening:
Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Minor keys – but sound modal T C minor - vocal c natural minor scale which feels modal
Annie Lennox – Walking on Broken Glass
Repeated simple chord sequences H Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Annie Lennox – Walking on Broken Glass
Sampling plus synthesiser
Music tech – sampling is common MT Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Synth and CMI
Annie Lennox – Walking on Broken Glass
Strophic
Altered strophic structure S Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
Basic textures – melody dominated homophony Vocal melody and guitar accompaniment
T
(vocal lead) Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Annie Lennox – Walking on Broken Glass
Key ostinato is syncopation
Metre changes and syncopation R Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
Syncopation in guitar
Annie Lennox – Walking on Broken Glass
Repeated string and piano ostinato like in Cloudbusting
Repetitive melodies with limited ranges M Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Ostinato in synth
Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Non-functional harmony (brackets, few cadence Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
H
and lack of primary progressions)
Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
Very minimal instruments – not much variation
Unusual instrumentation for Pop S
Links:
Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Cloudbusting
, Context: this song is based on the story of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Rich and his
relationship with his son Peter. Rich believed he could create a rain machine, he was
sentences to two years in federal prison for refusing to stop selling his invention and died
of heart failure a year later.
Sonority:
Uses CMI
Unusual combination for pop music – lack of bass, electric guitar, few drums
Piano – classical style, staccato stabs
Drums enter at b33 – military style b81
Strings become more active b89
Music technology
o Sample b11
o Steam engine effect at end
Melody:
Syllabic
Distinctive voice with range of a 10th
Simple, conjunct violin riff in chorus
Hook – “every time it rains”
Instrumental – simple keyboard melody
Improvised sound in outro/coda
Nonsense syllables b112
Harmony: Structure:
2 x repeating chord sequence – Verse 1 -b1
conjunct Bridge/refrain -b11
Harmony not always functional Chorus -b18
Few perfect cadences Verse 2 -b33
Uses extensions to create interest Bridge/refrain -b44
Tonality: Chorus -b51
C# minor Instrumental -b69
Sounds modal Chorus -b81
Rhythm, metre, tempo: Outro/coda -b99
Frequent syncopation in vocal Texture:
Strong pulse Homorythmic strings at start
Samples thicken texture
sections extend phrase Chorus is more polyphonic
Regular changes of metre Polyphonic interplay in outro
common rhythm
And Dream of Sheep
Context: Kate Bush explained in an article published in The Garden: "The song is about someone
going to sleep in the water, where they're alone and frightened. And they want to go to sleep, to
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